Bolshevik

American  

[bohl-shuh-vik, bol-, buhl-shi-vyeek] / ˈboʊl ʃə vɪk, ˈbɒl-, bəl ʃɪˈvyik /

Or bolshevik

noun

Bolsheviks, plural Bolsheviki plural

1. (in Russia)

   1. a member of the more radical majority of the Social Democratic Party, 1903–17, advocating immediate and forceful seizure of power by the proletariat.

   2. (after 1918) a member of the Russian Communist Party.

2. (loosely) a member of any Communist party.

3. (often lowercase) a contemptuous term used to refer to an extreme radical or revolutionary.

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Bolshevik British  

/ ˈbɒlʃɪvɪk /

noun

1. (formerly) a Russian Communist Compare Menshevik

2. any Communist

3. humorous (often not capital) any political radical, esp a revolutionary

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Bolshevism
  noun
• non-Bolshevik
  noun
• pro-Bolshevik
  adjective
• Bolshevist
  adjective
• Bolshevistic
  adjective
• anti-Bolshevik
  noun

Inflected Forms

noun

• Bolsheviks
  plural
• Bolsheviki
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Bolshevik

1915–20; < Russian bolʾshevík, equivalent to bólʾsh ( iĭ ) larger, greater (comparative of bolʾshóĭ large; compare bolʾshinstvó majority) + -evik, variant of -ovik noun suffix; cf. Menshevik